Living Water

"Even if the externals of life resemble a drought, inside we have the ever-flowing living water of the Holy Spirit. Of all the word pictures employed in the Bible to depict the Spirit, a river of living water ranks among the most powerful. He is seen as the source of vitality and abundance in our lives. Like a continually moving stream, He flows through us, performing His sanctifying work of transforming us into the image of Christ."

~ Dr. Charles Stanley
In Touch (Daily Devotional) - August 31, 2018


 Photo Locations:

1. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

2. Blackfoot River - Missoula, Montana

Cornstalks

late October field

a solid wall of cornstalks

before the combine

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

gliding

geese gliding through trees

waiting for the fog to lift

prepared for take off

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: McCarthy Lake - Kent County, Michigan 

A Container of Grace

As dusk dims
the day's light,
the evening wind sighs,
subsides.

My day has  been spent
watching,
and waiting,
and listening.

Collecting images.
Gathering words.
Trying always
to behold the Glory.

Combining:
the camera with the pen;
my eyes with imagination;
my mind with inspiration.

Waiting for this
container of grace
to be filled,
then poured out

onto this page,
so that my blessings
may be shared
with you.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: "Searching for Grace" ~ October 23, 2017

Photo Locations: 

1. Pickerel Lake Park - Fred Meijer Nature Preserve 

2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Rogue River ~ Rockford, Michigan

4. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

5. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

6. St. Malo Catholic Church - Allenspark, Colorado

Galaxy

A galaxy of silk.

A geometric pattern
designed and created
to capture prey,

and my attention.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Six Mile Cypress Slough & Preserve - Fort Myers, Florida

2. Snake River - Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

Filaments of Silver

From inside these
concave containers,
gray and brittle,
pale purses hold
filaments of silver,
iridescent in sunlight,
waiting their turn
to escape
on the wind.

Waiting to carry
with patience,
the flattened seeds,
chestnut brown,
to a new setting,
with wind
their escort,
with time
their ally.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Canon Township - Kent County - Michigan 

Return

With the hungry curiosity
that opens young minds,

and the intrinsic value

of observations outdoors,

Let us all return with
respect and gratitude:

to the woods and wetlands,
to the fields and prairies,
to the lakes and rivers,
to the meadows and mountains,
to the oceans' shores;

relevant with wonder,
resonant with mystery.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy one of my oldest posts from my first week of blogging: 
Find Your Place ~ April 10, 2012

A special thanks to: Ross & Chanda Peterson; Jess & Max Causer for permission to photograph their children. 

Photo Locations:

1, 2, & 3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Payson, Arizona

Dancing Light

The slant of sunlight
is caressing
the surface of the stream;

this film of wavering water
dancing with liquid light,
reflects upward, 

shimmering the undersides of leaves,
reaching out like warm hands
just above the cold current.

Captured by this dance
of light and water,
I cannot turn away.

Must stay:
to feel 
what the Spirit is sharing,

to learn the language,
to translate the dance
into words.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: 

Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

You may also enjoy: "Dawn's Early Light III" ~ October 25, 2013

Hope of the Heron

Rising
with the pearled light of dawn,
on strong, broad wings,
he lifts into a soft rain.

Wings the color
of this overcast.

A few drops fall
from the tips of his toes
to dimple the surface
like countless other raindrops.

He flies away
with a hope
as large as this lake,
or the next one.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy these Great Blue Heron poems:

"Heron Dreams"  ~ April 13, 2013

"A Trace of Hope" ~ July 9, 2018

Photo Locations:

1. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

2. Murray Lake - Kent County, Michigan